Rare pair this chapter!

———

Taco heard the door creak open. "Mic—?!" She asked holding the gun out towards the door. She tried to keep her hand from shaking. If she died, she die for good...

"Not quite..." huffed an angry voice from across the room. The one Taco recognized as Knife.

Taco's tension eased slightly, but she wouldn't let her guard down. "Shut the door..." She growled, as she lowered the gun, but still had a tight grip on it.

"Whatever..." Knife shut it, but was upset at being told what to do. "I—"

"Came to lecture me?" Taco answered. She expected something like this... And if it meant Knife kept from telling OJ, she'd bare through his ranting.

"You could say that." Knife snarled, upset he was interrupted. He crossed his arms, but Taco couldn't see that. "I know you. I know what you're trying to get at... And I swear, if you EVER hurt anyone here, I'll rip you in half MYSELF."

Taco scoffed at his threat. "You know you don't scare me right?" Lie. Just Lie... He'll go away soon... "I know you only give a shit about your boyfriend..." Taco growled.

"Boyf—? Don't— DON'T bring Pickle into this..."

"Oh? So you admit you're dating? Pft—! HAHAAH! Go back to being a simp on the couch Wont you?" Taco smirked, and coughed up some more blood.

"I don't think you're in the position to be demanding things..." Knife spat.

"Oh? And what will you do about it?!" Taco stood up.

Knife was angry, he clenched his fists tightly. He grabbed where Taco's throat area was just beneath her mouth.

Taco gasped and grabbed his arm she didn't expect him to actually get physical.

"Listen here... I meant what I said... You keep down this road of lies and I swear to god... I'll kill you before you can even pull that damn gun out of your shell..." He threatened.

"We both know you won't." Taco chuckled with a slight laboured breath.

Knife clenched his free hand and raised his fist.

Suddenly was shoved over and onto the floor. Microphone stepped on his chest and pinned him. "WHAT THE HELL KNIFE?!" Microphone yelled.

"M-MICROPHONE!" He panicked. "I-I was just... Talking with her..." Knife muttered.

"Fuck off with that bullshit..." Microphone growled. She looked back at Taco who was taking a sigh of relief, and then looked back down at Knife. "Did you hurt her?" She asked threateningly.

"..."

"DID YOU HURT HER?!"

"NO! DAMN IT! NOW GET OFF OF ME!" Knife spat angrily.

Microphone took her foot off his chest and took a step back. "Pickle is looking for you..." She snarled.

Knife sighed and turned away. "This isn't over..."

"Shut up, and get out..." Microphone pointed at the door with a pissed expression.

Knife scoffed and exited the room in a huff. He couldn't believe Microphone was insisting on protecting someone so dangerous! And for what?! Pity?! Friendship?! He didn't understand what Microphone expected out of this. He hope Taco got the message. Because he wasn't kidding about killing her.

Microphone turned to Taco and checked her for injuries just in case. "Are you alright...?" Microphone asked with worry in her tone.

"Yeah... He just threatened me... But he didn't hurt me or anything." Taco sighed.

Microphone closed her eyes and rubbed them in annoyance. "Sounds like Knife..." Microphone groaned. She walked over and brought in the tray she had. "Anyway... here..." Microphone placed the tray on the bed, and directed Taco's hand to the handle of the cup, so she wouldn't burn herself.

"Thank you..." Taco said genuinely. She was starving... and so fucking thirsty.

Microphone helped the smaller girl eat. Surprised that Taco wasn't getting angry at Microphone babying her. She watched as Taco ate and drank quite desperately.

As soon as Microphone saw Taco was finished, she took the cup, and small plate and placed it on the tray and gasped slightly as she felt arms wrap around her.

She looked back at Taco.

"Thank you..." Taco mumbled once again. Not a hint of sass in her voice.

Microphone smiled, and pat the other girl's back. "No problem... I'm gonna take the tray back, why don't you get some rest?"

Taco held onto Microphone for a moment longer. And hesitantly released Microphone from her embrace. "Alright..."

Microphone placed Taco on the pillow end of the bed, and Taco pulled the thick blanket over her shoulders and laid on her side. Man... She forgot how good beds felt.

Moments later Microphone left the room and began to walk down the hallway.

———

Present time (four hours later)

OJ and Paper rushed into the lobby to see Mephone, Soap, Test Tube, and seemingly random people?! Paper rushed up to Test Tube and examined her immediately. She was really out of it, and clearly in a lot of pain.

"I-Ill go get the superglue..." Paper ran off in hurry to find something to repair Test Tube's cracks.

OJ looked to Mephone. "Who are these people?! WHERE WERE YOU?!" He half yelled in an outraged tone. "We looked everywhere! We thought you DIED!"

"Oh... So NOW you care?! What happened to suing and hating me?!" Mephone retaliated with the same aggression.

OJ scoffed and put his hands on his hips. "Well... Things change when everyone's at risk of dying in an instant."

"Good to know I'm just a tool to you..." Mephone snarled.

"I don't give a shit! You still haven't even answered my question!" OJ stomped his foot as he questioned the Phone.

"He started a gameshow!" Clover chimed as she skipped over. "All of us are competing!"

Mephone looked over at Clover with a look of betrayal. She just completely threw him under the bus!

"A gameshow—?! MEPHONE! YOU STARTED ANOTHER SEASON?! YOU ALREADY HAVE ONE GOING!" OJ clenched his fists.

"I-I know—! I-It's just multitasking!" He chuckled sheepishly. "I uh... Like being productive!"

"You... are the opposite of productive..." OJ grumbled with a look of 'are you fucking kidding me?'

Mephone rolled his eyes. "Whatever!"

Paper rushed back and sat Test Tube down. He began to carefully patch Test Tube up, trying his best not to crack her worse Than she was already. He applied glue to all of the cracks, and then waited to make sure the glue set properly for a few moments. This should hold until the wounds healed on their own in a while. Or she died and respawned. Paper looked back at the group of objects in the lobby, and nervously walked up to Soap.

"H-hey uh... Could you go to the storage room and get Test Tube some anti freeze? T-to refill the vial?" Paper asked politely.

Soap perked up. "I— Uh... I don't know if I'll be able to get it without everything falling over... Remember what happened last time? When Lightbulb spilled her?" She mumbled in a nervous tone, fidgeting her hands slightly.

"I could help!" Clover exclaimed. "If you show me where it is, I assure you I could get it without knocking anything over!"

"Really? Are you sure...?" Paper asked.

"Yup! I'll go with her!" Clover walked over to Soap and waited for Soap to take the lead.

Soap looked at Clover's kind smile for a moment, before snapping out of it and nodding. "A-all right! Let's go!" She smiled too, and began to lead the way.

Paper watched as the two left, and looked at the rest of the objects. "U-uh... Could you introduce yourselves....?"

Silver stepped forward first with a boastful expression. "I'm Silver Spoon. But you can just call me Silver, flat one!"

"Don't call my husband FLAT ONE... Or I'll kick your royal ass..." OJ growled threateningly.

Silver flinched a bit and chuckled nervously. "O-of course! Geez... So harsh!" He pouted.

Candle spoke up next, her flame flickered brightly showing she was happy,l and collected. "I'm candle. It's nice to meet you." She hummed in a calm quiet voice.

Goo spoke up from next to her. "I'm Goo! I'm so happy to be here! You all seem so nice! Like... When it's sunny outside, but not too hot!" Goo chimed.

"???" Paper and OJ shared a confused expression.

"You get it...?" Goo raised an eyebrow.

"Nobody ever gets what you mean..." Mephone huffed.

"Aww..." Goo frowned in disappointment and melted slightly onto the floor.

Life Ring spoke up next. "I'm Life Ring! I'm a Life guard and passed with flying colours in first aid!" He said excitedly.

Paper chuckled at his enthusiasm.

"I'm Teakettle, if you ever need help around the kitchen, I'm your woman!" She smiled, and put her hands on her hips.

"I-I'm Cabby!" Cabby rolled over and held her hand out. "Nice to meet you Paper! I studied the show for quite a while for the new season! Hahah... Uh, it's nice to meet you."

Paper shook her hand with a wide friendly grin. "Of course! It's nice to know you admire us!"

Cabby backed up a bit and looked to see who has yet to introduce themselves.

"Hi... I'm Blueberry... Not that it matters much anyway..." Blueberry groaned.

"A-ahem! Hello! Im Floory."

Paper looked to see who was talking. OJ shared his confusion once again. Mephone then sighed and held up the jar full of sand. "Right here..." he angled it so They both could see the face IN the sand.

"Hello!" He chimed. "How are you guys on this lively evening?"

"Oh you charmer!" Paper laughed. "Im doing... pretty okay...! Nice to meet you!"

"Im doing fucking horrible..." OJ hissed, but that flew completely over everyone's head. Except Paper, but he was trying his best to be polite.

"Great to hear you're doing well." Floory laughed a bit after.

Mephone angled the jar up right again and looked around. "Man this place is a dump..."

"UGH! YES I KNOW." OJ yelled in anger. Before covering his eyes and trying not to sob. "God this is gonna be a long fucking week..." he whined.

"I-it's okay OJ... Let's just get some dinner and go to bed alright...?" Paper reassured.

OJ groaned and nodded a bit.

"Need help with dinner?" Teakettle asked in an instant.

"O-oh! Uh! No it's fine... Let me and OJ cook for today, who knows how far Mephone dragged you to get you...! Haha!" Paper put his arm around OJ and directed him towards the kitchen. He turned back and looked at Mephone. "Mephone! Can you show them the dining room?"

"Yeah, yeah... I can.. Whatever..." Mephone sighed. "Come on you guys."

———

OJ and Paper walked into the kitchen together, Paper was rubbing OJ's back comfortingly trying to keep him from blowing up, shattering, or... Just... Straight up crying. He seemed pretty stressed. Everything was so far out of both of their control, that it was almost too stressful to handle. Not to mention all the death, and drama... It made sense for OJ to be so on edge. He just wished OJ would care more about the people rather than the property.

OJ pulled away to wash dishes for dinner. He picked up the cloth and began to fill the sink with hot soapy water. OJ watched as the water and bubbles rise, and the steam fog up his glass.

Paper walked over to the fridge next to the public snack fridge, and pulled out the food that would be required for preparing dinner. He placed everything out on the counter and pulled out the necessary dishes and tools.

OJ hummed a little tune and listened to the plates clank together quietly beneath the water as he scrubbed the dirt off with the cloth in his hand. As he continued to wash the dishes, putting them on the drying rack one by one, he noticed his working area was more illuminated.

OJ didn't think much of it at first, and continued to clean. But he eventually glanced up and stared at the thing in-front of him for a few moments.

His eyes widened slightly and he dropped a plat on the floor and stumbled back.

Paper yelped. "OJ!!! What the heck?!" He squealed in panic.

"Oh no... No no no! I'm NOT dealing with THAT!" OJ hissed.

"What? Dealing with what?!" Paper questioned as he reached behind him for the broom to clean up the broken porcelain that littered the floor.

"There's a fucking CARD..." he hissed.

"What...?! You got one too...?!" Paper perked up at the news. He didn't know what to think of this.

"No! No I didn't! Because I'm not taking it." He growled and turned away. "Will that be enough plates? And cutlery?" He asked.

"Yeah it should be..." Paper answered.

"Good... I'm going to go fold the towels in the bathroom." OJ stormed off to get away from the card.

Paper sighed nervously, and continued to sweep up the porcelain mess.

OJ walked out of the kitchen and back into the lobby, and he glanced up and saw that same glow he saw in the kitchen. The card was in front of him again. He gasped and stumbled back just in time to not touch it. "JESUS! WHAT THE HECK?!" He was completely caught off guard, was this thing FOLLOWING HIM?! he ran in the opposite direction off towards the stairs only to find the SAME FUCKING GLOW at the top of the stairs. He once again narrowly stopped in time. He stared at the glowing card and yelled in frustration. "UUUGH!!!" He turned to go the other way and back down the stairs, he ran into the downstairs bathroom and slammed the door shut. Some of the orange juice in his glass spilled in the rush. He looked into the bathroom and saw the light reflect from the tile floor. Of course. He tugged at his lower eyelids in frustration and punched the doorframe. "WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" He yelled at the inanimate magical item. "I DONT WANT YOU! GET AWAY!" He snarled in anger. Of course, nothing happened. OJ slid down the wall and sat staring at the thing. He just wanted it to go away, this whole magic thing was ruining his life... He looked up and saw the card was closer to him now. There was an aura emanating from the glowing item. Like it was calling to him... He snapped out of it and scrambled out of the room before he could touch it.

OJ nearly ran straight into Paintbrush. OJ let out a small scream as he saw Paintbrush. He laughed it off. "Paintbrush...! Hah... you scared me..."

"Oh, uh... Sorry." They seemed worried. Probably about Lightbulb, and for good reason. "What has you so freaked...? I heard you screaming from Lightbulb's room. Us and Suitcase were getting concerned."

"Do you know how the cards give powers to people? They appear and— you get powers if you touch em?" OJ questioned.

"Yeah...?" Paintbrush raised an eyebrow in confusion

"Well I got one... or— well... I don't know... it just appeared in front of me!" OJ complained in annoyance.

Paintbrush flinched and looked a bit startled. "I heard it hurts like hell from
Lightbulb..."

"Yeah! Not to mention no one knows how to control the god forsaken abilities you get! So... I'm just not gonna accept it."

"Wow...!" Paintbrush chuckled jokingly. "OJ running away from a problem? Never thought I'd see the day...!" Paintbrush shook their head whilst laughing.

"Yeah... hahah..." OJ laughed dismissively, not really in  athe joking mood. But he didn't really want to seem too rude.

Paintbrush understood of course. "I'm just gonna get some water for Lighty— bulb... Lightbulb." They waved slightly and gripped the glass they had in their other hand a bit tighter as they walked into towards the bathroom door, but slipped on a small puddle of orange juice that had spilled from OJ's glass. "WoAH—!" Paintbrush knocked into OJ.

OJ slipped backwards, luckily not shattering and into a sitting position, meaning he didn't spill out. "AGH— Ow..." he frowned.

"G-god, I'm sorry—!" Paintbrush lifted themselves off the floor and onto their knee's clutching their head.

OJ shook his head. "N-no no... it's my fault hah..." he stood up, and looked back at the ground.

Paintbrush glanced up at OJ. "You okay...? You uh... Look pale..."

"Fuck..."

OJ didn't spare a second and he ran away from the orb of light that formed from the card he had fallen on. His desperate attempts at avoiding the mystical item now proven to be useless. He didn't even get halfway across the lobby before the card shot into his back.

He gasped as he felt it, and the surge of energy that flowed through his body in an instant. His legs felt weak as the pain kicked in... The juice in his glass bubbles and boiled, the glass on his back began to heat and melt. His bottom lip quivered and he bit the side of his thumb trying to suppress the scream of pain he felt build in his throat.

Paintbrush stood up and watched in horror as the glass on OJ's back turned a red colour as it heated. They saw OJ reach with his other hand to try and grab the wound, and they ran over and grabbed his wrist. They didn't want OJ to burn himself.

OJ grabbed onto Paintbrush's shoulder instead of grabbing his wound to have some sort of support as a pained scream escaped his lips. The juice in his cup bubbles like crazy.

A hole in the glass melted away, but instead of the juice pouring out, water began to form and shape into massive wings made out of water. They twitch slightly, and the water that connected to the glass on his back boiled from the heat.

Paintbrush seemed dumbfounded by the transformation. They were tempted to touch the wings that now decorated OJ's back, but new better than to touch water that could potentially scorching hot. "Woah..."

OJ's eyes changed from a brown colour to a deep blue. And, his hand seemed... Webbed...? "God shoot me now..." He muttered in a defeated tone.

"This can't be happening..."

———

Soap lead clover down towards the basement. "Over here!" She chimed and walked down the hall with a slight smile looking back at the taller girl.

The plant giggled and gave a thumbs up. "You seem to know YOU way around this place pretty well." She complimented in a cheery tone.

Soap looked confused for a second before snapping out of it. "Oh! I live here and clean up all the time! I'm kinda neat freak... everyone thinks I'm kinda weird for it..." She muttered shamefully.

"What? Why? I think that's pretty cool! I mean, you sound like every roommate's dream!" Clover chuckled and put her hands behind her back.

"Hahah... Really? I always thought it was kinda weird."

"No way! I think it's a healthy hobby to have! Everything always spotless? I think they're all just jealous." Clover giggled in admiration.

Soap smiled a shyly and turned a bright shade of red. "N-no...! Stooppp! You're just saying that!"

"No way! Mean it." Clover reassured. "You should be more confident in yourself...! You seem like you have potential to be great leader. You do what's important to you. You listen yo your heart. As long as it makes you happy, who cares if other people judge you for it!"

Soap felt a wide shy smile creep on her face at the flattery. She looked back at the girl, into her hazel eyes. And felt her heart flutter, someone who understood her... someone so sweet and kind too... so pretty— She turned away in an instant, her face now bright red. No! She couldn't think like that! She just met this girl. "H-haHAHAHhahh... l-let's just go! The storage room is right here! Heheh..."

"Alright!" Clover walked over with Soap into the storage room, and towards the pile of boxes at the back wall.

"I-it's uh... That box over there." Soap pointed at the box near the bottom that seemed to be placed in a precarious position.

"Alright! I'm on it." Clover walked over and looked around at the piles of boxes.

Soap watches from a far. She studied the way the other girl moved, and talked, her general body language. When her voice filled her ears she could've sworn that her stomach filled with a thousand butterflies. This couldn't be a crush right...? No...

Clover effortlessly picked up the box, and everything fell into place like a puzzle. Nothing broke, and Nothing tumbled over. In fact, the once precariously stacked awkward pile of boxes seemed  more stable.

Soap admired her work, and eventually caught eyes with Clover. They both stared into the other's eyes for a moment.

Clover flinched a little. And felt her checks heat up a little. Soap's eyes were like diamonds. She shook it off and spoke up. "Well.. uh... Are you ready to go back?" Clover chimed.

Soap snapped out of it and nodded with a red face. "Y-yeah! Hahah...! Let's go." Soap turned and began waking back with Clover. Her heart felt warm. She liked the feeling...

Clover happily carried the box in her arms. A faint tint of pink on her cheeks.

Was this her butterflies...? Or...

Something else...?

———